The Lying, The Witch Hunt And The Oil

August 20, 2017

By David Patterson

For decades, the North Sea oil just off of the Scottish coastline has been a very taboo, topic of discussion when it comes to figures and statistics from Westminster.

During the Scottish Referendum campaign, the Scottish National Party explained to the electorate that the oil belonged to Scotland and the revenue would be Scotland’s revenue in an independent Scotland.

In 1999, the fictional borderline for oil in the North Sea had been altered by the UK Government. The Scotland Act 1998 was amended and contained details to move the ‘border’ 6000 miles north. Meaning England had an extra 6,000 square miles.

This had been discussed by the Scottish Labour leader, Donald Dewar and the newly elected Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The idea was specifically aimed at deflecting Scotland’s wealth and position in the UK, should the case for independence arise.Scotland and its people were left in the dark due to these amendments, thus furthering their naivety when it came to real figures from Westminster.

Norway, who is directly adjacent to Scotland, geographically has the other half of the North Sea and rakes in mass revenue. Even during the oil crash in 2015, Norway managed to make £29 billion while the UK reportedly made a loss of £23 million. The only country with vast amounts of oil to ever make a loss.

With all of this in mind, alarm bells started ringing. There is one thing that you should never do, and that’s try and pull the wool over the Scottish peoples eyes.

The Scottish people are resilient in their research and will not rest until Scotland has their fair share. It’s just a shame that throughout history and presently, there are still some Scots that pander to Westminster’s every need.

For as long as the oil was found in the North Sea, Scotland and England have been at logger heads as to who gets a share. When the Act of Union was signed in 1707, it was mutual agreement to work together and help each other, which has certainly not been the case and is the sole reason the majority of Scots are backing the Scottish National Party in every election in the past decade.

For centuries, the Scottish people have wanted their fair share. They don’t want to take over or control the other nations in the Union. All they want is what they’re owed. The UK Government have lied, stole and back-stabbed their way to power and this is why the Scottish people want their independence.

If the 4 nations worked in tandem with each other, if they looked out for each other and shared the wealth, then there wouldn’t be a Scottish National Party. Westminster only have themselves to blame for the divisions between Scotland and England.

Westminster have refused to give accurate statistics on the North Sea oil and reports are now leaking out that the oil price drop in 2013, one year before the Scottish referendum was falsely used to attack the independence case. This is a fact.

So how can this be labelled a ‘union’ when one country steals from the other and lies about it? It is an out right farcical, cynical understatement, to which we have been accustomed to throughout the years.

Donald Dewar was labelled a hero, for bringing the Scottish Parliament to fruition, but at what cost? “Bought and sold for English gold.”

The Sunday Heralds front page today outlines the drastic measures the UK Government went to, to cover up the figures hidden from Scotland about the oil.

In the 24 countries where Shell extracts oil and gas, all except the UK made Shell pay taxes over the last two years since the oil price dropped.

In that period, the UK gave Shell £179 million in tax rebates, whilst Shell PAID Norway 4.6 billion. So, Norway generated £4.8 billion more from one company than Westminster’s oil and gas tax policies generated from the entire UK industry in those two years.With Scottish Salmon hitting record exporting heights, there seems to be another fishy story going on.

The UK made a loss of £179 million, while Germany made a £2 million credit. New Zealand also made a profit of £131 million and Italy made £182 million. Denmark made £457 million and Norway made the most at £4.6 billion.

These figures speak for themselves. The UK Government gave Shell £179 million and took nothing in tax from them, reaffirming the narrative of the Tories giving money to their donors and cronies.

We have known what has been going on for years and it’s about time a newspaper has reported on it. I say well done to the Sunday Herald. I hope this gains momentum and reaches undecided voters to allow them to see the real Westminster at work here.

Let’s make our voices heard again and shout this from the rooftops. Scotland will not be bought over and sold down the river, the yes movement is rapidly ascending due to this and will continue to do so, until this ‘union’ is no more.

1 Comment

Anna Dowell
on August 21, 2017 at 12:33 pm

It was never Donald Dewars sea to sell. He didn’t own it just like he doesn’t own the air that we breathe in Scotland. So unless England can prove it was his to sell there is no deal. It belongs to every single Scottish person and I as sure as hell didn’t sell it.This is no longer the 17th century where England ran rough shot over everyone and claimed it as there own. We the Scottish people who own the sea and land called Scotland did not and will not sell our heritage to England.